CEO Sounding Board: What are the trends in philanthropy?

“Something we really need to look at in the state of Florida — by ‘we,’ I mean foundations, hospitals and universities that have endowments — is what the field calls mission-related investing. We call them program-related investments. For example: Taking a portion of investment capital and rather than buy private equity or real estate or a typical stock or bond, take that money and invest it in another non-profit entity that takes that capital and loans it locally for some purpose. It might be for charter schools, it might be for affordable rental property, it might be for health clinics — things that need capitalization beyond the typical grant. The Jessie Ball duPont Fund is just starting its own program-related portfolio. I hope it becomes a big trend in Florida.”

“The big trend might be the intergenerational transfer of wealth and of leadership. There are estimates that the intergenerational transfer of wealth here in Florida in the next 10 years might be as high as $322 billion. If we take only 5%, that would be $16 billion for charity. And if you put that into an endowment or foundation — we’re required to pay out 5% annually — so 5% of that would be $800 million each year, every year, being injected into the Florida economy to produce a better quality of life. Being ready to capture this intergenerational transfer of wealth is going to be very important. Otherwise, institutions somewhere else will capture that.

Just as important is the intergenerational transfer of leadership. You have new leaders coming in. A lot of people are coming in from outside the state of Florida bringing best practices and new ideas.”

Javier Alberto SotoPresident, CEO - The Miami Foundation - Miami

“Charitable giving is about immediate giving and immediate impact these days, more so than endowment-building long term. For us that’s reflected in the growth of online tools for charitable fundraising and giving. With Give Miami Day, we raised $1.2 million in 24 hours for 300 organizations. Every donation was increased by 12.5% from $100,000 we put into the match pool and $100,000 from the Knight Foundation. We want to have those people become lifetime givers who will invest in the long term to help our community. Today’s Give Miami Day donor will be tomorrow’s endowment builder.”